Thursday, September 15, 2016

McMillian Moody’s “Ordained Irreverence”

Elmo Jenkins is
a seminary student, and one the requirements for graduation is a six-month
internship with a church. Ditched by his date at a fancy party, Elmo meets one
of the ministers of the fabled First Church, and lands his internship.

First Church’s
denomination isn’t mentioned. It could be Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, or
a similar group. If you’ve grown up within the boundaries of Protestant Christianity
in the United States, the church is instantly recognizable – the megachurch
with the big tall steeple usually located right in the middle of downtown.

Elmo’s office is
(literally) a transformed broom closet in a large complex of offices. He begins
to navigate his way through both the building and the church’s labyrinthine internal
politics, politics that extend to the local business community, the seminary,
and the country club. All-too-human frailties have to be dealt with. A minor 100-year-old
mystery needs solving. And there’s even the possibility of romance; actually,
there’s more than a possibility.

Ordained
Irreverence is the
first of four Elmo Jenkins novels and four novellas by McMillian Moody. Moody, who lives in
Tennessee (where there are any number of First Churches to choose from), has
taken a humorous yet rather fond look at institutions like First Church and the
characters who inhabit them – the senior pastor, the trusted assistant pastor,
the worship leader, and all the other people who comprise the staff of a large
church.

McMillian Moody

Moody’s intent
isn’t to poke fun and puncture balloons, but he clearly knows enough about
churches to know that First Church isn’t a completely fictional creation. What
keeps the book from drifting into sarcasm is the understanding that, despite
all the egos and foibles on display, God’s work is somehow getting done.

We can laugh at
the inside church jokes and punctured egos, but Moody keeps returning us to the
purpose of the church, and to the fact that even large churches, once you’re
past the glitter and theatrics, can serve good purposes. Elmo may be
irreverent, but he knows what he and the church are called to do.

A Light Shining

Dancing Priest

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Professional writer exploring faith and culture, life and work; happily married to Janet, the love of my life; father of two grown sons. Award-winning speechwriter and communication consultant. I am also a contributing editor for The High Calling and for TweetSpeak Poetry. I am also the author of the novels "Dancing Priest" and "A Light Shining," and the non-fiction book "Poetry at Work."